Door



H. l. MORRIIS I 2,022,142

Nov. 26, 1935. 2

DOOR

' 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 28, 1932 ATTORNEY Nov. 26, 1935, H' I MORRI 2,022,142

DOOR

Filed July 28, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 -|NVENTOR JWJW" game ATTORNEY Nov. 26, 1935. H. l. om 2,022,142

' DOOR I Filed July- 28, 1952 SSheets-Sheet 4 I INVENTOR frh/mw "ATTORNEY Nov; 26, 1935. H. 1. Mo'Rls DOOR Filed July- 28, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet. 5

IINVENTOR P Mw- 594a. ATTORNEYI Patented msize, 1935 a noon 110ml. Morris, Lakewood, H0, by

mesne assignments, to Overhead Door Corporation, Hartford City, M, a corporation 'of Indiana Applicationddy zs,-- 1ssz, Serial is. mm 4 Claims. (01. 20-20) This invention relates to a door, more particularly an overhead type ofdoor, the mounting for the door, whereby it may be raised and lowered, and the counterbalancing means which enables the door to be readily operated in either direction.

One object of the invention is to provide for an overhead door having articulating panels, an improved counterbalancing means which is of rel.- atively simple construction and which is readily mounted and installed with the door, whereby I, Fig. 12 is a fragmentary plan view of. one of I the cost of the door and its counterbalancing means and the expense of installation is materially reduced.

Another object of theinvention is to provide a vertically sliding door, a mounting therefor and a counterbalancing means of simplified construction and arrangement permitting ready installations' under a wide range ofconditions and providing for the mounting of the counter-babancing means directly above the door. 1

Another object of the invention is to provide for a vertically slidable, articulatable door, an

L improved counterbalancing means utilizing a single length of spring operatively connected to the opposite side edges of the door, whereby a spring of minimum length maybe used and equal tension on the side edges of thedoor is maintained atalltimes.

A further object of the invention is to provide for a vertically slidable, articulatable door, a counterbalancing means of relatively simple construction .arranged to counterbalance the door during its bodily vertical movement and niovement as the upper panels move intoand out of a horizontal position. v

Qtherobjects of the invention will be apparent to those" skilled in the artto which my invention relates from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein Fig. 1' is an elevational view of a door, the

mounting and counterbalancing means therefor embodying my invention, the door, mountin and counterbalancingmeans being shown installed in a building in operativeyrelation to an opening therein.

Fig. 2 is a section on theline Fig. 3 is a plan view. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view of parts shown -in'Fig. 2, but showing the door opened.

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 0,-6 of Fig. 1.-

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary section on the line 'i -J 01 Fig. 1.

the operating connections, enlarged.

Fig. 13isasideviewofthepartsshownin Fig. .12.

In the I walls of. which form an opening or door wa'y 2.

3 indicates a door comprising panels or sections la, 3b, 3c, 3d, pivotally or hingedly connected by suitable devices 4. a The number of door panels may be increased or decreased depending upon the size thereof and the height of the opening 2. The door is slidably mounted on a pair of spaced aligned guides 5, 5, each having a vertical portion la, a portion lb disposed at an angle .(preferably a right angle) to the portion 5a and an intermediate curved portion be, said portions being related end to end to permit the door to move from its closed position (Fig. 1) to a full n position (Fig. 4). These guide portions may be. formed from a single section of material.

The vertical portion lia-of eachlguide is secured by brackets 6 to the walls I, in spaced relation theretoxthe angle portion 5b is supported, preferablyin a plane. below theceiling or other overhead structure by a hanger 8 depending there-'3 from, and the intermediate portion is braced by a plate 9 having a base portion l0 secured to the wall i above the opening 2.

The guides] form tracks for rollers II. The rollers are slidably and rotatably mounted on extended ends of the pivot pins for those hinge de-' vices l which are disposed adjacent the side edges of the door; and a roller Ii is mounted on a pin suitably supported atthe lower side edge of the lower panel to. The construction of the guides 45 and mountings for the rollers II are preferably similar to corresponding parts shown and claimed 'immy co-pending application Ser. N01 448,377,1'or which reason no claim thereto is made in this application. a

"indicates as an entirety a counterbalancing means for-the door. In Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 I have shown an arangement in which the uppermost panel 3d of the door 3; substantiallyimmediately upon the raising of the door, guided reardrawings, [indicates a building, the 1,5.

reduction in the weight of the door as, it moves to the position shown in Figs. 4 and 5; whereas in- Figs. 8 and 9.1 have shown an arrangement in which the door 3, when raised, has an initial 'vertical movement preceding the rearward movement of the uppermost panel and in such arrangement I provide for the counterbalancing of I the door during both its initial movement and subsequent movement and corresponding movements in. reverse directions. 0

0f the counterb Figs. 1, 2,3 and 4,13 indicates a coiled spring,

having is opposite ends operatively connected byconnections to be later described, to the lower out- Qer side edges or ends of the door 3,that is,thelower completely open the opening-2 and (2) mounting of the spring in a convenient'location' as wellas a location that avoids the use of cables of undue lengths. The operating connections between the spring ends and the door side edges are shown at It, ll, respectively, and are similarly constructed and mounted. so that the following description of the connections ll between one spring end and the adjacent door side edge will answer for both. Of the connections II, I! indicates a flexible member, such as a wirecable pivotally connected at its outer endto asuitable device I6, such as a pin, preferably projecting laterally from the side edge of the panel 3a, adjacent its lower end.

From the pin IS, the cable I5 extends upwardly,

preferably in the plane of the door when in closed position and parallel-to its adjacent side edge and reeves around a stationary guide sheave l1,

then around a sheave I8, connected to the adjacent end of the spring It, then around a second stationary guide sheave l1a,(and then around a second sheave "a, connected to the adjacent end of the spring, the inner free end of the cable being suitably anchored to an eye or hook is,

which is preferably supported by the plate 9. The.

sheaves II, "a, loosely rotate on a stud shaft 2'0,

suitably mounted on plate 8', also secured to the wall I, whereas the sheaves l8, Ila, loosely rotate on ashaft 2i, the latter being supported by a pair of spaced plates 22, pivoted to the outer end of av yoke-device 23. The yoke-device is provided with a pair of diverging members the free ends of which are clamped around'orhooked to one ormore convolutions at the adjacent end 'of the spring-I3 (see Figs. 12 and 13). The M- rangements of the reeving'sheaves for the flexible members I5 shown and described above con-- stitute differential or compensating connections between the opposite ends of the spring and the lower side edges of the door to permit the necessary travel of the latter, 'but with limited expansion and contraction of the spring I3,.whereby its' ends move one relative'to the other, but a short distance. As shown, the spring is connected to the door side edges in such manner that one end serves as an anchor for the other end; accordingly,"the closing of the door puts the under the same tension from end to end, sothat equal counter-balancing eflects on both side edges of the door result and are maintained at all times.

The construction permits the use of.a' relatively shortspring, which when expandedhas a length less than the width of the door (Figs, 1 and 3) lancing means I2 shown in.

2,022,142 wardly, so that there is a substantially uniform I am therefore enabled to locate the spring and the reeving sheaves carried by its ends between and in the plane of the guide sheaves for the flexible members as they extend upwardly from their connections l6; and this arrangement permits the counterbalancing means to be positioned on the wall I of the building immediately above the opening 2. It will benotedthat the spring I3 is connected to the flexible members I5 (that. is, indirectly through the reeving elements I 8,

I8a) and supported entirely by them; also that the counterbalancing means is supported and operatively related to the door by means of two elements, namely, theshafts 20 for the guide sheaves ll, ,lla. As these sheaves are so disposedthat the cables IS extend upwardly along and parallel to the side edges of the door, the tension of the spring is exerted substantially in the plane of the door. In this arrangement, the sheaves I I, Ila, serve toboth support and guide t heoperating connectionsfll, it. As none of the elements of the counterbalancingmeans extend along or above the guide portions 5b, installation of the door and the counterbalancing means therefore may be readily and economically made. v To prevent undue vibration of the spring where the .door is slid rapidly from one position to another, I provide on the-wall I, a guard 25. If the door is moved upwardly and rearwardly to a position which permits the spring It to sag, theguard will support it in substantially its normal position. r Where the weight of the door requires'a greater spring tension, I may provide a plurality of springs in side by side relation for conjoint op- 35 eration to counterbalance the door. One example of. this form 'of construction, employing two springs "11,130, is shown in Fig. 7a.

Where the building construction and arrangement make it desirable or necessary for ,the curved guide portions 5c to be positioned some distance above the opening 2 (Figs. 8 and ai, it will be noted thatthe door 3, in its raising movement slides vertically a predetermined distance without losing weight or until its uppermost panel isv guided inwardly by the guide portions '50, and that loss of weight of the door does not take place until the door panels enter and trav'- erse the guide portions 50 and 5b. Inthe closing movement of the door, its weight increases as the panels traverse the guide portions 5b, 50,

until the uppermost panel enters the guide por-. tion 5a and thereafter the weight remains the same throughout the remaining movement of the door. To provide for these conditions or manner of operation of the door, I use connections of a diiferent form or arrangement betweenthe ends of the spring I32: and the side edges of the door, as shown in Figs. 8, 9 and 10,- whereby the door is counterbalanced while bodily moving vertically and while it is traversing the guide por--. 4

I to guide the flexiblemember, to be later referred to, from one portion to the other. 21 indicates ,aflexible member, preferably a wire cable,.connected at its outer end to theadiacent side. edge of thedoor panel In and connected at its inner end to the drum tea and arranged to wind thereon in convolute arrangement when theidoor' 3 isopen'ed. 28 indicates a flexible member,"-prefez-ably a wire cable', connected at its inner end to the adjacent end of--the\spring I31: and connected atits outer end to the inner end 'of' the straight drum portion 26c or the drum a. When the door isclosed, the flexible member 28 is wound on the drum portions 26c, 26d, and .unwinds therefrom when the door is raised, the 'flexible member unwinding from the tapered portion 26d and winding thereon during the bodily vertical travel of the door, during which travel the weight of the door remains the same. In the upward movement of the door the tension of the spring 13:: is decreasing and in its down- -ward movement the tension of the spring is increasing, but by causing the cable to wind on' and ofi a tapered surface during such vertical movement of the door, the decrease and increase of tension of the spring is compensated for.

' The difierential sheave 2G is loosely mounted on a shaft 29 suitably supported on a plate 30, which is fixed to thewall i. 3 When the mounting of the door 3 is similar to that shown in Fig. 1, that is, where the door does not have a bodily vertical movement, I may employ a differential sheave as shown at 3|, in Fig. 11. The sheave 3| is similar in construction to the sheave 26, except that therelatively small diameter drum 3!!) thereof has the same diameter from end to end. The sheave 3| has connected to it the cables 21a, 28alwhich wind on i :5 To those skilled in the art to which myinvention relates, many changes in construction and widely differing embodiments and applications of the invention will suggest themselves without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. 'My disclosures and the description herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in any sense limiting.

What I claim is: a

1. In a door construction, the combination with a. wall formed with an opening, of spaced guides related to said opening and having vertical portions and portions extending at an angle there- 7 to, a door consisting of articulatable sections slidably mounted in said guides, and a counterbalor flexible members connected at their inner ends 50 ancing means for said door, said means consisting of a coiled spring disposed in an elevated position above the lower door section when the v door is open and having connections between its opposite ends and the opposite sides or the lower door section and serving to counterbalance the door during raising and lowering thereof, each said connection including a diflferential means a r' ranged to reduce the relativemovement of the spring ends due toexpansion and contraction of the spring 5 the door is raised and lowered- 1 2. In a door'construction, the combination with a wall formed with an opening, of spaced guides related to said opening and havingwertical portions and portions extending at an angle thereto, a door consisting of articlflatable sections slid ably mounted in saidguides, and a counterbalancing means for said door, said means consisting of a coiled'spring and a differential operating connection betweeneach end of said spring and the'adjacent lower side edge of said door, each of '5 said-operating connections including a flexible member anchored atits inner end and connected at its-outer' end t'othe adjacent lowerside portion' of the door and a set of reeving elements around which said flexible member reeves, certain of said elements being stationarily mounted on said wall and the remaining elements being carried by the adjacent end portion of said spring. 3. In a door construction, the combination with a wall formed with an opening, of a pair of spaced 15 guides related to said opening and having vertical portions and portions disposed at an angle thereto, a door consisting of articulatable sections slidably mounted on said guides, differential sheaves mounted on said wall above and at opposite sides 20 of said opening and each having separate winding portions of different diameters, a coiled spring arranged to expand and contract endwise during lowering and raising of said door, a pair otflexible members each connected at its oiiter end to the lower edge portion of said door and arranged to wind on and off the large winding portion of the adjacent sheave at its inner end, and a pair of flexible members connected at their inner ends to the opposite ends of said spring and each arranged to wind on and off the small windin portion of the adjacent sheave at its outer end to reduce the relative movement of the spring ends due to expansion and contraction thereof.

4. In a door construction, the combination with a wall formed with an opening, of a pair of spaced guides related to said opening and having vertical portions and portions disposed at an angle thereto, a door consisting of articulatable sections slidably mounted on said guides, differential sheaves mounted on said wall above and at opposite sides of said opening and each having separate winding portions 01' different diameters, a coiled spring arranged to expand and contractendwise during lowering and raising of said door, a pair of flex- I ible members each connected at. itsouter end to the lower edge portion or said door and arranged to wind on and off the-large winding portion of theadjacent sheave at its inner end, and a pair to the opposite ends of said spring and each arranged to wind'on and oil the. small winding portion of the adjacent sheave at its outer end toreduce the relative movement of the spring ends due to expansion and contraction thereof, each 55.

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